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Fan Speed Limiting

Limit noise
 
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I recently bought a laptop. Since I don't travel with it often, I bought a powerful one with a 3.06 GHZ P4 processor. The laptop is about 9 pounds (~4 kg) and about two inches thick (~5 cm). The processor, being a desktop P4, produces a lot of heat, so the laptop has a pretty high speed, noisy, multiple speed fan. The hotter the processor gets, the faster the fan goes. Since it is small and fast, it makes a lot of noise, which I don't like.

I would like to limit the speed of the fan. I would be able to set it to only go to speed 2, for instance, and the processor would automatically switch to throttling when it reached the critical temperature. (Throttling is when the processor lowers its clock speed to avoid overheating.) Pentium processors automatically use throttling, but not fan speed limiting.
-----, Apr 16 2005

Fan Speed Control http://www.pccasegear.com/prod1618.htm
[Amos Kito, Apr 17 2005]


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       Sorry about the long, hard to understand introduction.
-----, Apr 16 2005
  

       jealous
zeno, Apr 16 2005
  

       Could one sacrifice part of the hard disk surface and fit it with little 'wings' so it works as a fan. Presumably this is incredibly naive. Yeah, I guess for starters the drive would be more noisy as it does more work. You could fit miniature whistles to it as as well, hold on, no that wouldn't be good.
weedy, Apr 16 2005
  

       Fill it with custard.
disbomber, Apr 16 2005
  

       [weedy] hard drives are sealed, as dust is the enemy of data integrity at the densities in question. So no, you couldn't make one double as an extra fan.
JakePatterson, Apr 16 2005
  

       Sealed? So that means you wouldn't hear the whistles? Great!
weedy, Apr 17 2005
  

       Hmm, a larger fan wouldn't fit. It would be blocked by the lap or whatever surface it is on. Anyway, if I was playing a game/doing something resource intensive, I could just shut the feature off. I don't need 3.06 GHZ all the time, especially while word processing or watching a video.
-----, Apr 17 2005
  

       This exists, and for noise limiting purposes. Check companies that sell parts for custom PC modifications. You might be able to use the one in the [link] by just removing the metal bracket.   

       But this is for use only if you're certain that your laptop isn't getting hot enough.
Amos Kito, Apr 17 2005
  

       Then it would overheat and fry your computer.   

       But then you would buy a new laptop, and the problem would be solved.
DesertFox, Apr 17 2005
  

       Um, intel processors don't fry. They just slow down and eventually shut down to keep themselves from dying.
-----, Apr 17 2005
  

       Unlike their AMD counterparts which infamously overheat along the same lines as a flashbulb.   

       Although not the answer you are seeking, do you actually use the laptop as a laptop or is it moored to one spot usually? If it's in one spot maybe you could build a laptop plate cooled with peltier or other method upon which to set your laptop.   

       One thing I have noticed with my laptop (an M50) is that when I use an external monitor and turn off the laptop display the machine runs much, much cooler.
bristolz, Apr 18 2005
  

       I do both. I usually put a book between me and the laptop (I'm freaked out. There was an article about becoming sterilized by laptop heat). My idea, however, focuses not on the heat, but on the sound. By the way, I use a Dell Inspiron 5160.
-----, Apr 18 2005
  

       But if you limit the heat you will limit the sound.
bristolz, Apr 18 2005
  

       I suppose.
-----, Apr 18 2005
  

       These days you can do this in software, and most PC enthusiasts do, it seems.
notexactly, Jun 21 2019
  


 

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